I'm somewhat surprised this heatsink works so well - the spacing between the wires in fairly tight; but apparently it works quite well.

I'm not an expert in the science at play, but could the shape (round) and length of travel (short side-to-side) help the (low-speed) flow? As I've come to understand, tight spacing impedes forced flow, but the shorter the confined distance, the less back pressure is created. Or maybe it's just that the wires expose more surface area to open air?

This cooler is the best passive heatsink SilentPCReview has ever seen and they don't give it top honors?

"It's important to note that the entire genre of passive coolers, the CR-95C included, is encumbered with some significant disadvantages. A heatsink half the size and a third of the price can operate more efficiently with a fan running at very low, inaudible speed."

It is hardly the perfect product, so I can see why it's not an Editor's Choice.

I'm somewhat surprised this heatsink works so well - the spacing between the wires in fairly tight; but apparently it works quite well.

Yes, it is fairly tight, but unlike a fin which is a planar structure, the wire is only a single thin round strut, so the airflow resistance is minimal. Blowing through it with your mouth, it's easy to feel how low the impedance is compared to any other heatsink.

PFunk wrote:

This cooler is the best passive heatsink SilentPCReview has ever seen and they don't give it top honors?

As others have suggested, it has some limitations. An Editor's Choice award basically goes to a component which we'd choose to use in every silent PC build if at all possible. This one, which is the best passive CPU HS we've tested, has the following buts:- it is huge, so doesn't fit well in all cases/setups- the high price cannot be ignored - it is not ideal for a system which will be at high load for long periods, esp. if longevity of mobo components is desired (the absence of CPU cooler fan does mean VRMs and other mobo components will run hotter)- even w/95W TDP CPUs, it would tend to run a bit too hot if stressed hard/long in the summer.

Whether the high price is worth it or not, it's a very interesting and apparently well designed cooler!

There's one thing I've been wondering since I read this review. With that big hole in the middle, what kind of performance would the thing have with a large fan (120mm?) zip-tied to it, pushing or pulling air? Would there be a significant difference? No difference? I realize this goes totally against the idea of a fully passive cooler, but I'm curious!

Whether the high price is worth it or not, it's a very interesting and apparently well designed cooler!

There's one thing I've been wondering since I read this review. With that big hole in the middle, what kind of performance would the thing have with a large fan (120mm?) zip-tied to it, pushing or pulling air? Would there be a significant difference? No difference? I realize this goes totally against the idea of a fully passive cooler, but I'm curious!

I was wondering exactly the same thing. I will go out on a limb and predict the Antec TrueQuiet 140 at 550rpm or less (ie at noise level not measurable directly by SPCR) will have less than 40C temp rise vs current 54C passive (based on some temp rise changes I see in other heatsinks with different fan conditions). With a fan it could well be the best available compromise between noise/temp (at the expense of size and cost).

Hey guys I just installed this in my fanless setup (Cooler Master HAF XB), reminds me of the 1st time the Zalman flower heatsink came out. Cpu thermals are great but I'll have to do something about the hdd temps, but that's a separate issue.

Hey guys I just installed this in my fanless setup (Cooler Master HAF XB), reminds me of the 1st time the Zalman flower heatsink came out. Cpu thermals are great but I'll have to do something about the hdd temps, but that's a separate issue.

Is the entire system fanless? I looked at using this case, but didn't think it would be compatible with a fanless power supply. The top venting would be blocked by the motherboard tray...

He says, "I ran Prime95 on the pure CPU stress ... settled at 60". He's getting way better results than me, but I think he's also a bit confused.

The small FFT torture test is an FPU (floating point unit) stress test. It just tests one part of the processor for stability, not thermals.

There is no "settling" with Prime95. If you run the in-place large FFT torture test for maximum heat, you'll notice some iterations and lengths will produce much more heat than others. It can take a few hours to get through all of them. Also, since he has it in enclosure, the case temperature will probably creep up very slowly.

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